Princess, love, girl – when is a term of endearment not welcome? | Rebecca Nicholson When I think of Paul Hollywood, TV’s floury-haired fox and staunch upholder of a strong crumb, I think of a man who only ever seems to be one pint of bitter away from turning into your dad hitting the dancefloor at the end of a very long wedding. The Bake Off judge has been all over the tabloids this week – happily, not for wearing a Nazi uniform as fancy dress this time (it was an ’Allo ’Allo!-themed night and he’s sorry, OK) – but it was one particular answer in one particular interview that raised the bristles on my broad, lefty, feminista chest. You’ll remember that when the Bake Off moved to Channel 4, Hollywood was the only original host to stay with the programme, and for a while, he says, this made him the most hated man in the country. The girls! But it made me think of the countless times I’ve been called a “girl” or one of the “girls” by an older man – and it usually is an older man – and the point in my life at which it started to bother me.
Possibly the most exhaustive study of “manspreading” ever conducted - Sociological Images “Manspreading” is a relatively new term. According to Google Trends (below), the concept wasn’t really used before the end of 2014. But the idea it’s describing is not new at all. The notion that men occupy more space than women is one small piece of what Raewyn Connell refers to as the patriarchal dividend–the collection of accumulated advantages men collectively receive in androcentric patriarchal societies (e.g., wages, respect, authority, safety). Our bodies are differently disciplined to the systems of inequality in our societies depending upon our status within social hierarchies. And one seemingly small form of privilege from which many men benefit is the idea that men require (and are allowed) more space. It’s not uncommon to see advertisements on all manner of public transportation today condemning the practice of occupying “too much” space while other around you “keep to themselves.” If you’re interested, you can watch the Youtube video of the entire book.
Sexism and Shopping: Female Players Get Most of the Odd Questions at the U.S. Open - The New York Times The tennis finals of the United States Open are Saturday for the women and Sunday for the men. On the court, except for the number of sets, they all face the same rules. When they walk off the court, though, the game changes. Two years ago, Serena Williams was asked why she wasn’t smiling — a question some felt no one would have asked a man. After the Australian Open in 2012, another player was asked, “After practice, can you put tennis a little bit behind you and have dinner, shopping, have a little bit of fun?” It is not hard to guess the gender of that player.
Girls In Northern Saskatchewan Are Missing School Because Of Their Periods Millions of Canadians get their periods every month, but believe it or not, some can’t afford basic menstrual supplies. Some girls are even missing school because of it, according to a northern Saskatchewan MP. Georgina Jolibois, who is based in La Loche, Sask., told The Huffington Post Canada that food and personal hygiene products are pricey in the northern part of the province. "It is very expensive, not to only buy the tampons or the pads, but also [treatment] for their cramps," she told CBC News. "They might not have the money to buy Midol or other pain-relief medication, so they stay home." NDP MP Georgina Jolibois is seen on Parliament Hill in February 2016. It creates unfair barriers, she said: “All Canadian women ... should have the ability to participate freely and equally in Canadian society." A new organization in Regina hopes to provide a solution with free menstrual cups. Typically a problem in impoverished countries "It is appalling that that’s happening right here in Canada."
She Giggles, He Gallops Impact of the writer’s gender Next, let’s examine how the writer’s gender affects characters’ behavior. Do women writers use different language for women roles? What are the words that both male and female writers use about equally when describing characters? Would results change dramatically if there were more women writers? Words far away from an axis exhibit more dramatic differences. There are some directions where the writer’s gender makes no difference. When describing the opposite gender, both men and women use some overtly romantic and sexual words, such as “kiss” and “stroke,” as well as more subtle words including “respond” and “embrace.” But there are differences.
Female professors ‘pay price for academic citizenship’ | THE News Female professors earn less on average than their male counterparts because they focus on underappreciated “academic citizen” roles that do not lead to promotion or pay rises, a new study suggests. Male professors devote less time to mentoring duties, serving on university committees and other “academic citizen” roles, and instead concentrate on their own research – an activity more likely to win them external recognition and a pay rise, according to a paper by Bruce Macfarlane, professor of higher education at University of Southampton, and Damon Burg, a research fellow at Southampton Education School. Based on interviews with 25 female and five male professors at nine UK universities, the two researchers found that female professors tended to talk about the broader demands of their departmental chair, whereas male interviewees focused far more on the need to win research grants. “Even at professorial level [they] tend to be making up more of these service roles,” he added.
Men and Women: No Big Difference Archer, J. (2004). Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: A meta-analytic review. Review of General Psychology, 8, 291-322. Barnett, R. & Rivers, C. (2004). Eaton, W. Feingold, A. (1994). Halpern, D. Halpern, D. Hyde, J. Hyde, J. Leaper, C. & Smith, T. Oliver, M. Spencer, S. Voyer, D., Voyer, S., & Bryden, M.
What does a "Professional" Look Like? Thoughts from a Queer Almost-Lawyer | Pink Larkin Pictured: Balraj Dosanjh, Mary Burnet and Nicola Watson (Photo by: Diane Slaunwhite) I am a queer woman with tattoos, piercings, and a half-shaved head that have been part of my style for the past ten years. As an articled clerk and soon-to-be lawyer, working in a professional environment has been challenging in many ways – not the least of which is determining what it means to look the part. As a law student, I received many messages about “professional attire” and how to “dress for success.” For example, at a session about professionalism offered on campus, two white men included a picture of Nicki Minaj in their presentation as an example of “unprofessional attire.” This positioning by white lawyers before a group of largely white law students of a Trinidadian-born, Black American rapper as “unprofessional” was a loaded juxtaposition, and on top of that, was irrelevant. Not long afterward, Canadian Lawyer posted a video entitled “Beauty gurus in law” on its website.
BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - Trans? Non-Binary? Genderqueer? CN Lester on language and gender identity On Newt Scamander, Toxic Masculinity, & The Power Of Hufflepuff Heroes Warning: This post contains spoilers for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt Scamander is a rare bird — rarer even, perhaps, than the Thunderbird he recklessly smuggles into Manhattan in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt tears up in wonder as a baby Occamy hatches, and tenderly refers to himself as "Mum" to a group of them. Newt Scamander takes every trope we know about the Male Hero — the toxic tropes that we have grown up with, that are so internalized in traditional narratives that we don't even blink at them anymore — and flips them on their head. In an ordinary narrative (traditional Harry Potter narratives included) the idea of a Male Hero manifests very differently. And you know why the fandom wouldn't have blinked? By virtue of this, it is no coincidence that Hufflepuffs are the house the most often made fun of. Images: Warner Bros Pictures
Media stereotype women in financial coverage, study finds | Money As campaigners continue to battle the gender pay gap, new research has shown huge discrepancies in the way men and women are spoken to about money in the media. Linguistic analysis of about 300 finance articles from the UK and other countries over the past year showed that 65% of those aimed at women defined them as “splurgers”, excessive spenders with poor judgment who needed to “rein in” their spending and “limit” their outgoings in order to save. When the reader was female, the landscape of financial planning tended to be painted as complex and threatening, “a minefield”, and imagery tended to be of women who were emotionally or even physically overwhelmed – cowered by an oversized credit card, for example – and often included infantile imagery such as piggy banks and pennies. By contrast, articles aimed at men painted their readers as savvy financiers and the financial landscape as packed with opportunity. … we have a small favour to ask.
Kids Attend Drag Queen Story Hour On a recent Saturday morning, about two dozen small children and their parents gathered in the Park Slope branch of the Brooklyn Public Library for a new reading series. There were pregnant women with tattoos, breast-feeding moms, and a little girl in pink ballerina gear climbing on the laps of her two dads. Many of the kids, who ranged in age from newborn to five years old, wore tiny T-shirts showcasing their parents’ favorite bands (Nirvana, David Bowie) or political views (one read, “The Future Is Female”). The event was hosted by Michelle Tea, a writer from Los Angeles, who started attending library story hours after becoming a mom. Tea’s solution, called Drag Queen Story Hour, introduces elements of gender bending and camp. Rachel Aimee was at the library because she had seen a Facebook post about the series. “Yeah, it’s just fun and glitter,” said Tea, who was wearing animal-print palazzo pants and had a red heart tattoo on each of her fingers. The children just stared.
Men talk to women differently on social media, says science | GQ India | Entertainment Research has shown that men talk very differently to women on social media and understanding that fact might help you communicate with the opposite sex. Cross a crowded bar with an extra drink in the hopes of striking up a conversation with an attractive woman? That’s crazy talk, that’s Matthew McConaughey winning another Oscar level idiotic chat. Subscribe to GQSubscribe to GQ at just INR 1200 & get a Gift Hamper worth INR 1,599 from Schwarzkopf In what must have been some superfun days at work, researchers from Stony Brook University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Melbourne in Australia analysed some 10 million messages from 65,000 Facebook users. It boiled down to this – women preferred warmer modes of communication with words such as wonderful, happy, birthday, daughter, baby, excited, and thankful. Which are just so attractive right? But here’s the kicker though – and a lesson any man who communicates with women via social media would do well to learn.
14 Books That Teach Intersectional Feminism To Kids For little learners, bedtime stories (or anytime stories) can be one of the best parts of the whole day. There are narrative arcs that draw kids in, pictures to help them see the story, and, oftentimes, some sort of lesson to be learned. It used to be that little girl books covered tea parties and dress up, princesses and knights in shining armor, while little boy books covered trucks and trains, superheroes and action. Now, however, children's books are increasingly moving towards more inclusive, less divisive themes and characterizations. There are even books that teach intersectional feminism to kids, which is an important topic to cover. But, as important as it is, concepts like intersectional feminism can sometimes be tricky to teach little ones, whose worlds revolve so heavily around what they can see with their own two eyes and what directly affects them personally. 1'Meet ClaraBelle Blue' by Adiba Nelson 3'Grace For President' by Kelly DiPucchio 6'Feminist Baby' by Loryn Brantz